While most of us take the latest and greatest computer for granted, or at least the fact that we are easily able to purchase a computer. Not to mention we seem to be very worried about the next-generation movie players and have all gotten caught up in the recent format war (where Blu-ray came out victorious). But what if those options had not been available to us?
Being very into tech it’s easy to forget that some people may not be able to purchase such devices, not because of a financial reason but because their government did not allow it. While I will not dive to far into Communism here, it is with very good news that there are some signs of change in Cuba, even if it is just a little at a time.
The Cuban Government has decided to ease up, just a bit and allow “unrestricted” sales on personal computers, DVD and video players (VCR’s). Based on an internal government memo these sales will begin to be available immediately, and in what seems like a strange twist showing just how skewed we can be, air conditioners will not be available until 2009 with toasters showing up in 2010. Now even Cubans will be able to put their computer additions before personal comfort.
While it may sound funny that air conditioners and toasters are coming in second, according to the report such devices had been limited due to power issues. Sadly though, that even though computers will become more available, the access that would connect them to the world, otherwise know as the internet is still going to remain in control of the government.
Read [Reuters]
Now if only the people in Cuba could actually afford to buy these projects. It's not secret that they can barely afford the basic necessities – there's no way they have the money to buy these products.